Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

39 reviews

lizziaha's review against another edition

dark

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

A very interesting look into villainy. The jumbled storyline (particularly in the beginning) was a bit hard to follow at times, and the characters made some truly abhorrent choices. But this brand of super powered people that Schwab has introduced is very intriguing. I kinda wanted more info about the various superpowers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Car accident

june_buggie's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Would be better if it was gay but other than that no notes keep everything the same but like gay

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Religious bigotry, and Stalking

Minor: Alcoholism

multiple suicide attempts from two different characters, two are technically successful though the deaths are temporarily, and one unsuccessful. There is a scene where one of the main character repeatedly self harms while experimenting with his new regenerative healing abilities. Graphic depictions of death via electric shock torture/spoiler>

currently_introverting's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Sexual assault

wizardingwisteria's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.75

I don't even know where to start with this one.  This was insane from start to finish. 

I absolutely devoured this. I never wanted to put it down because in every single chapter a new piece of information is revealed or something shifted in a way that made the plot more interesting. It is certainly a good story.

The characters really make this one. Their experiences, their morals, and their motivations (and their powers lol) drive every single plot point. 

Although, as much as I enjoyed this, I would be lying if I said I didn't get bored at some points. In the last 100 ish pages I had become impatient. The entire book set up this massive fight that almost felt like it was never going to happen.  When it did eventually happen it was quite satisfying.  

Some of the characters have special powers that can essentially undo things that would ultimately be fatal which knocked down some stakes in a story that was designed to have the highest stakes possible.  I stopped mourning my favorite character after they seemingly died for the second time.  By the end I had a grasp on how things were going to play out and it became a bit easy to predict. 

Death itself was something that was tossed around with varying degrees of severity.  Without spoiling too much, there is a character that dies in the beginning whose death is set up to be this massive shock but is kind of brushed under the rug in a few chapters. This character's death was in some ways the catalyst for the primary antagonist and yet at some point they just kind of get forgotten.

Even with these things I still greatly enjoyed this. I would have quickly DNFed it if I hadn't. But it is definitely a book I had to be in the right mindset to read. The story and the characters are exceedingly dark. If I only had one word to describe this book it would have to be dark.  Not to say it was not enjoyable, but it was a heavy one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism and Drug use

nekoshka's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Torture, and Blood

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Child abuse

laurafrances's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, and Alcohol

astrid_mel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Car accident

alexandrabelze's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

sydney and dol CARRIED! mixed up victor and eli’s hair colors for the ENTIRE book and didn’t notice until the last few chapters. only one or two awkward transitions or unnecessary moments; nothing crazy or unusual.

eli’s self harm scene was very poor in taste and could’ve been written better. a let down on schwab’s part.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction and Alcoholism

ashwyn's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

While the concept of people with superpowers is far from unique, Schwab chooses to focus on the relationship of the two main characters and how their attained superpowers and their own morals impacts them, their relationships and the people around them. This made the novel a bit fresh, tied with a super quick pace.

However, the super quick pace costs character depth. Victor Vale (<3) and Sydney are the only characters I felt had any sort of interesting depth/backstory. We hardly know anything about any of the cast of main characters (which is kept really small too!!) which does make the novel feel shallow. We are told that Victor and Eli are bffs but are never told how they became friends (being colleges roomies doesn't automatically make you bffs) or even why they are truly friends (especially cause Victor feels very jealous and less than around the perfect (and actually incredibly painful to read) Eli). 

The pace and plot keeps you reading. Victor Vale keeps you reading. The other characters make you question why you even care about what is happening to them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism and Abandonment

rosenau's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Torture, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Confinement, Drug use, and Religious bigotry